New research finds mice sing like birds though we can't hear them - Polidicks

[URL]http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/01/mice-sing-just-like-birds-but-we-cant-hear-them/?tid=rssfeed[/URL] Can't provide a quote as the website isn't working for me at the moment.

[QUOTE]It's true: Mice actually sing, especially when they're looking for a mate. That's not anything new. But unlike birdsong, mouse-song is much too high-pitched for humans to hear. So no, it's not exactly Cinderella-esque, as you can hear for yourself in the above video. But it is shockingly intricate. [Scientists show that drunk birds ‘slur’ their songs] In a new study published Wednesday in Frontiers of Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers at Duke University took a new approach to analyzing mouse songs: They analyzed them the way scientists analyze bird songs. They looked for changes in the way mice string together syllables, hoping to analyze whether they used and responded to different songs in different situations. Sure enough, male mice on the lookout for an unseen female (an illusion the researchers created by exposing them to female urine) gave loud, complex song performances. But once they were in a female's presence, they simmered down. Females seemed to be more receptive to those first, more complex songs.[/QUOTE]

Wonder what other animals can do this?

If you are super close to them or holding them it's audible

[quote]In a new study published Wednesday in Frontiers of Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers at Duke University took a new approach to analyzing mouse songs[/quote] [quote]The study authors believe the male mice may be expending extra energy when a female isn't in sight, but doing the bare-minimum singing when she's nearby. That leaves the male mouse with extra energy to physically pursue her and attempt to mate. So he's basically wining and dining her when she's elusive, then turning his sights to sex once she's within reach.[/quote] Uh... Is this an April Fool's or not?

Nothing can be trusted today, so I'm going with a prank on this one.

[QUOTE=Jamsponge;47437767]Uh... Is this an April Fool's or not?[/QUOTE] Pretty sure this is april fools because if this was the case, it would have been known for ages, and it would have been trivial to record them, slow it down to reasonable frequency, and listen to it.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47437783]Pretty sure this is april fools because if this was the case, it would have been known for ages, and it would have been trivial to record them, slow it down to reasonable frequency, and listen to it.[/QUOTE] Just because it was easy to do doesn't mean people would have done it. There's only so many people working on communication between rats. Also, it isn't an April fools. It's been published on a number of other news websites as well, such as the Guardian (who don't do April fools articles).

[QUOTE=Explosions;47437782]Nothing can be trusted today, so I'm going with a prank on this one.[/QUOTE] If it is, its pretty elaborate because a lot of sources are in on it. This isn't saying its a brand new discovery, more talking about it an they have figured out some details.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47437783]Pretty sure this is april fools because if this was the case, it would have been known for ages, and it would have been trivial to record them, slow it down to reasonable frequency, and listen to it.[/QUOTE] It doesn't seem too farcical, or jokey in any sense. This may just be weird science news with an unfortunate send date. It also is something that I imagine we could have been ignorant of for years since they say in the article [I]that the mice sing in Ultrasound.[/I] That is, in a wavelength inaudible to humanity. Why would we suspect something we never saw, noticed or had any reason to suspect? Until the rug gets pulled out from under me, I'll give this one a "yeah, that's neat."

[QUOTE=Explosions;47437782]Nothing can be trusted today, so I'm going with a prank on this one.[/QUOTE] I dont know, I saw this a few years back. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-admRGFVNM[/media] But it is most likely april fools

[url]http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00076/abstract[/url] Not April fools. The idea already existed since 2005, and this article was [B]submitted last year in November[/B].

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47437783]Pretty sure this is april fools because if this was the case, it would have been known for ages, and it would have been trivial to record them, slow it down to reasonable frequency, and listen to it.[/QUOTE] I will never understand this argument. Just because it's trivial doesn't mean someone actually stumbled upon it. I mean just 3 years ago we found out that plants make clicking noises to communicate. All we had to do was record low frequency sound and you would think that someone would have done that ages ago. But no one did so we had no idea.

[QUOTE=amorax;47437802]such as the Guardian (who don't do April fools articles).[/QUOTE] they're probably saving that up for a really good one

So happy that this isn't april fools, this is so cool :smile: